Athens makes it easier for people to access sex-change
A strong win through a narrow window.
As to now in Greece, anyone over 15 years old can ask for a sex-change procedure on official procedure without undergoing sterilization. The country joins Norway, Ireland, Malta and Denmark where you also don’t need any medical intervention or psychiatric diagnosis to undergo the procedure. Previously, sex change wasn’t impossible but only in a small number of situations such as the removal of your reproductive organs.
The law has been passed on the 10th of October by a narrow margin: 171 for vs 114 against. It was fircely opposed by the Greek Orthodox church and by A. Tsipras Government’s opposition. Indeed, the Greek prime minister rallied parliament to make the win possible.
There were mainly two objections to the law brought by the opposition. First, in line with the newspaper Proto Thema, they consider 15 years old to be too young for such a decision. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, head ofthe centre-right New Democracy party, told The Guardian:
“It makes no sense to us that a 15-year-old, who is prohibited from consuming alcohol, is allowed to take such an important decision … a decision that should be taken with medical expertise.”
Second, the Orthodox Church sees it as “a satanic deed” and “the destruction of social cohesion and the spiritual necrosis of man”. They also fear this law as a first step to allow same-sex couples to adopt children.
Meanwhile, Eurotopics shows how most of the local press is delighted at the result. It’s a “symbolically significant victory for the left” and a step forward for social cohesion.
“No tradition, no religion, no perception of family requires citizens to remain on the margins or be pushed into institutional and social oblivion”
A. Tsipras.
Interviewed by The Guardian, the clinical psychologist Nancy Papathanasiou who oversees an LGBT helpline in Athens, said the issue “was often a matter of life and death for those who called in”.
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